UK regulators warn airlines over ‘serious problems’ ahead of summer peak

The UK’s aviation and competition regulators on Thursday warned airlines over “harmful practices” in their treatment of passengers this summer and said they could take action against the sector if “serious problems” persisted. The Civil Aviation Authority and Competition and Markets Authority expressed concern that consumers could “experience significant harm” unless carriers handled the issue of flight disruption more effectively. Staff shortages across the aviation industry have prompted airlines to cancel tens of thousands of flights this summer. Although many of the cancellations have been in advance, passengers have also suffered from a spate of last-minute cancellations and delays. In a joint letter the CAA and CMA said they were “concerned that some airlines may not be doing everything they could to avoid engaging in . . . harmful practices”. Such practices included selling more tickets than carriers could “reasonably expect to fly” and not looking after passengers properly when flights were cancelled. “We expect airlines to ensure they closely monitor their likely ability to ensure flights take off as scheduled, and do not continue marketing tickets for flights if they cannot be reasonably confident they will go ahead,” the agencies wrote. The letter said there were concerns over airlines not “always fully satisfying obligations” to offer to reroute consumers if flights were cancelled, adding that carriers had “failed to give consumers sufficiently clear and upfront information” about their rights upon cancellation.<br/>